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Smog Busting Paint Breaks Down Noxious Gasses
jlechem writes "New Scientist is reporting a story about a new paint that can absorb noxious gas. According to the article the new paint is called Ecopaint. The substance is designed to reduce levels of the nitrogen oxides, collectively known as the NOx gases, which cause respiratory problems and trigger smog production. The paint's base is polysiloxane, a silicon-based polymer. Embedded in it are spherical nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate 30 nanometres wide. Because the particles are so small, the paint is clear, but pigment can be added. The first paint to go on sale will of course be white."
In 2002, after 7000 square metres of road surface in Milan, Italy, were covered with a catalytic cement, residents reported that it was noticeably easier to breathe - with the concentration of nitrogen oxides at street level cut by up to 60 per cent.
None of the usual "20% decrease in XYZ, 30% lower levels of ABC", plain and simple "it makes a difference noticeable to people".
Interesting technology, but the "paint will begin to discolor after approximately 5 years" may discourage widespread deployment.
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It is worth noting that the NOx from smog already forms nitric acid, which sticks to surfaces. Nitric acid is very "sticky" in this regard, and when it rains or the humidity gets very high, it corrodes the surfaces on which it has been deposited. This occurs even without the catalyst. In effect, the new paint won't be a big change- nitric acid will continue to be deposited, but at a higher rate- and preferentially on surfaces with the catalyst, which has a modest amount of calcium carbonate to neutralize the product.
On the bright side, if calcium carbonate is used for neutralization, the calcium nitrate is actually fertilizer. Yum for the plants.
Really, the places that have the highest concentration of vehicles - downtowns - seem to be almost entirely cement, glass, and brick. Out in the suburbs there's houses with paint on them, but there's not much pollution out there...unless you live in southern California. Cement might actually be more useful because there are more cement surfaces than painted surfaces in high-density parts of town.
The definition of a liberal: I may disagree with what you have to say, but I'll fight for your right to say it
At least it will be obvious when a new coat is needed.
I can see this stuff being required by ordnance in cities, especially places like Los Angeles and Beijing, where air pollution is a major issue.
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I used to work in a coal burning power plant where they are required to run catalytic scrubbers to remove some of the NO2 before releasing it. While walking above the boilers one day I inhaled a lungful of something noxious that about knocked me off my feet and the safety engineer later said it was probably an NO2 leak. It felt like a chemical burn in all my respiratory passages for days. Anyway that is an environment where NO2 gas is highly concentrated and the workers there could be partially protected by painting the offices, breakrooms, turbine rooms, etc. with this stuff.
Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
Racist manufacturers. :)
My favourite part of the article (with a different substance):
In 2002, after 7000 square metres of road surface in Milan, Italy, were covered with a catalytic cement, residents reported that it was noticeably easier to breathe - with the concentration of nitrogen oxides at street level cut by up to 60 per cent.
60% percent less nitrogen oxides in less than a year? Hell, coat my lungs with it. Even if if has to be reapplied every couple of years, it would be worth it to apply the cement version to streets, and roads and the paint version to buildings. Dunno about the whole discolouration thing, though.
Wonder how long it'll be now that we have photocatalytic paint before someone comes up with photovoltaic paint that can produce significant power? Even cooler if they could be combined.
Have you ever seen NO2? It's orange. It's a gas. It's an acid. It *is* smog. It's like the sixth most powerful acid of all acids or thereabouts (when mixed with water of course... producing nitric acid... H20 + NO2 --> H2NO3). The cool thing is that the right catalyst (cars have catalytic converters which do this, as well as get rid of CO) will turn it into harmless Nitrogen and Oxygen. The uncool part is that it's also easy to make, just mix Nitrogen and Oxygen (uh, like air) at high temperature and pressure (like in an engine).
As a firefighter, I have to ask the question of what happens when it burns. If all these toxins are intentionally captured into the paint, are they released when it burns? Would this mean that people will have even less time to escape from a fire?
I wonder what this paint would do for those of us here on the Big Island of Hawaii. We have a form of smog that is generated by the noxious sulfur dioxide gas and other pollutants emitted from Kilauea Volcano (vog). The trade winds here carry most of the vog over to the other side of the island (Kona), but we do ocassionally get it here on this side of the island (Hilo). When the vog rolls in, the air smells like rotten eggs and you get the same type of visual effect that comes from staring at a a low res monitor screen for 8 hours :)
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
Titanium dioxide is a very stable mineral that is mined and refined, not "produced".
Wikipedia reference
Its the normal pigment in white paint.
The binder for most emulsion paint is polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which is where I guess you got the connection with chlorine.
(vinyl paint) This is certainly not without risks.
Health risks with vinyl chloride monomer
and here
The only novel hazard here is the formulation of Titanium dioxide as nanoparticles, and the potential health risks associated with such stable nano particles.
Given that these are long term bound into the paint binder, this is possibly one of the lower risk applications of nano particles, though TiO2 is worryingly stable.
Shoka